1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to support devices, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved canoe carrying support device which when attached to an associated canoe enables same to be readily transported over a land surface and furthermore accommodate variation in a canoe's external configuration.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of support devices for canoes and similar water craft is well known in the prior art. As may be appreciated, these devices have normally required a water craft of particular configuration or were of bulky and awkward structure to resist their transport through land transport conditions, as is oft times the case in the transport of modern, light-weight canoe structures over various land formations to gain access to and from a particular body of water. In this connection there have been several attempts to develop canoe-like support devices which may be easily and efficiently adapted to and utilized in association with a canoe-like device. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,109,520 to Flower illustrates the use of a canoe carrier which secures a forward wheel to a forward portion of a canoe creating a wheelbarrow effect enabling transport of said canoe. The device is of a rather awkward configuration for transport and storage of a canoe and resists accommodation of canoes of various external configurations.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,376,496 to Woodruff sets forth a spring loaded axle support apparatus for support of a canoe that may be secured in a trailer-like fashion behind a motor vehicle for towing of said canoe. The apparatus is, as the previous patent, of bulky and rather substantial construction to resist application other than to a specific boat configuration as set forth by the patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,551,040 to Newell sets forth the use of a trailer-like apparatus attached to a rearward portion of a boat for transporting same. The device comprises a wheeled cart-like device which enables a user to grasp a forward portion of the associated boat for transport of same. The instant patent provides no further advantage in the transport of vehicles such as boats than the previously cited patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,622,893 to Wasserlein sets forth a further exiled trailer arrangement with associated wheels for support of a boat about a mid portion thereof for general attachment to a tow vehicle such as an automobile. The device is again of rather complicated and substantial structure and as other prior art devices, resists application to a wide variety of boat configurations as does the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,271,798 to Sclerotic sets forth a two part support cradle for a canoe wherein a trailer-like apparatus supporting wheels is pivoted in sections about either side of a canoe to enable mobile transport thereof. This device fails to provide a useful improvement over other prior devices in the transport of canoe-like vehicles and similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,284,821 also to Sclerotic is merely a variation of the same idea but utilizing a modification of the pivoted supports of the wheels formed through securement within the internal cavity of the boat when not in use.
As such it may be appreciated that there is a continuing need for a new and improved canoe support apparatus which addresses both the problem of storage and portability and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.